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Superoleophobic surfaces through control of sprayed-on stochastic topography
Raymond Campos1, Andrew J Guenthner, Adam J Meuler
1ERC Incorporated, Air Force Research Laboratory, Edwards AFB, California 93524, United States.
Langmuir : the ACS Journal of Surfaces and Colloids
|May 23, 2012
Summary
Researchers developed highly liquid-repellent coatings using sprayed silica and fluoropolymer. These materials offer scalable production and tunable surface properties for advanced liquid repellency, including superoleophobicity.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Surface Chemistry
Background:
- Developing advanced liquid-repellent surfaces is crucial for various technological applications.
- Existing methods often face challenges in scalability and achieving broad-spectrum repellency.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the liquid repellency and surface topography of novel coatings.
- To understand the relationship between coating composition, structure, and performance.
Main Methods:
- Contact and sliding angle analysis.
- Electron microscopy.
- Image analysis for fractal dimensionality.
Main Results:
- Coatings exhibited excellent liquid repellency, including superoleophobicity.
- Simple, scalable deposition process using fluoroalkyl-functional precipitated silica and fluoropolymer binder.
- Surface topography, characterized by re-entrant curvature across multiple length scales, was key to performance.
- Binder distribution influenced surface roughness and controlled liquid repellence.
Conclusions:
- The combination of low surface energy and specific roughness characteristics enables superior liquid repellency.
- The binder's distribution is critical for maintaining surface structure and achieving tunable repellency.
- These coatings represent a promising class of materials for advanced liquid-repellent applications.
